Mordechai Ben David

Mordechai Werdyger (16 April 1951-), known by his stage name Mordechai Ben David (MBD), is an American Hasidic Jewish singer-songwriter.

Biography
Mordechai Werdyger was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York in 1951, the son of Jewish cantor and Polish Holocaust survivor David Werdyger. He started his musical career in the 1970s and used "Mordechai Ben David" as his stage name, basing his career on his father's acclaim among Orthodox Jews. He blended traditional Hasidic singing with modern and popular music techniques, and his music was considered "soul touching" and "spiritually uplifting". He also made political songs, including ones about refuseniks (Jews who were unable to emigrate) behind the Iron Curtain, Haredi opposition to missionary practice in Jerusalem, protests against the division of Jerusalem and Hebron because of the Oslo Accords, and an attack on anti-religious politicians. In 2016, he controversially called United States president Barack Obama a kushi (meaning dark-skinned), a racial slur. Ben David lived in Sea Gate, Brooklyn, but also had a home in Jerusalem.